It would’ve been better if she got slimed.
A movie prop-maker who decked out her Kia Soul to look like the iconic Ecto-1 vehicle from “Ghostbusters” had the custom wheels stolen from her Los Angeles apartment building.
Erica Nese, who tricked-out the green Kia during the pandemic, told KTLA that someone had tried to bust into the notoriously easy-to-steal vehicle with a screwdriver last week.
She was about to go to the mechanic to have her “Ecto Kia” fixed on Monday, but when she went into the parking garage below her Silver Lake apartment building, the lime-green Soul had vanished.
“It’s really beautiful … it’s a work of art [that] took me about four or five years,” she told the outlet. “But it’s looking very pretty, and it’s not done yet.”
Several other cars in the garage were also broken into, Nese said. The parking garage has a locked gate and requires a code to get inside, she added.
While it will be hard for the thief to remain inconspicuous in such a car, no arrests have been made.
“I just want the car back so I can keep working on it,” Nese said.
“It’s like my child,” she added.
Thefts of Kia-made vehicles skyrocketed in recent years as thieves posted videos on social media showing how the ignition systems in mainly 2011-2021 Kias and 2015-2021 Hyundais with physical keys could be easily hacked using a screwdriver, pliers or the end of a USB cable.
The models notably lack engine immobilizers, a standard feature on most cars since the 1990s preventing the engine from starting unless the key is present.
It even sparked “the Kia Challenge” on social media.
Attorneys general from 17 states have called on federal regulators to issue a mandatory recall on the Kias and Hyundais, arguing the voluntary software fixes issued by the companies aren’t enough.
Multiple cities including Baltimore, Milwaukee and New York have filed or announced plans to join legal action against the automakers, which also are facing class-action and civil lawsuits from consumers.
